Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Maiocco: Blaine Gabbert a “good bet” to start Week 1
On Monday, Matt Maiocco of
CSN Bay Area joined Chad, Joe & Lo on
95.7 The Game to discuss the San Francisco 49ers. As always, a popular topic of discussion is the team's quarterback competition between
Blaine Gabbert and
Colin Kaepernick.
Maiocco stated that it would likely be a good bet that Gabbert wins the competition and starts Week 1
against the Los Angeles Rams at Levi's Stadium. "I think that's a good bet," said Maiocco. "I think that, based on the offseason program, Blaine Gabbert had maybe creeped out into the lead a little bit just because – for no other reason – that Kaepernick didn't get all those reps. He never got any 11-on-11 reps. He only got some 7-on-7 stuff in that last minicamp."
"My impression in watching the practices is that maybe Gabbert is a better fit for what Chip Kelly wants from his quarterback," continued Maiocco. "They're sending five guys into the pattern a lot, which means that there are going to have to be some pre-snap reads. There are going to have to be some adjustments. Whenever the defensive decides to bring in an extra rusher, there's going to have to be a quick decision made. The ball's going to have to come out quickly and I don't know that that is necessarily Colin Kaepernick's strength.
"Gabbert, his decision making in the heat of the moment, with the split-second, all those kinds of things, that's still to be determined. But I don't think there's any question, in watching him practice, they each have their strengths and weaknesses and one of Gabbert's strengths is his ability to get the ball out quickly and get it out on target.
"Right now, it looks – it's close. You can certainly make a case for either quarterback. But I think, right now, it's Gabbert, but Chip Kelly has said that these four exhibition games are going to be huge for evaluation."
Maiocco also discussed
DeForest Buckner, Buckner and
Arik Armstead working with
Michael Bennett in Hawaii, rookie quarterback
Jeff Driskel,
Anthony Davis, and
Joshua Garnett.
You can
listen to the entire segment here on
95.7 The Game.
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